Kids regularly seem to have homework that would be best done in DTP software. Problem is that as a very Mac household, we don’t have access to MS Publisher.

Is there any alternative that a) won’t break the bank, b) is easy to use, and c) will export to Publisher (though I suppose at a push PDF would do)?

Thanks!

Depends on exactly what you need to do, but I use PowerPoint for most things that need a mix of text and images on the same page.

Aye, that’s what we’ve used, just wondered if there was something better.

Pages is free and will more than likely already be on your Mac.
It can work in word processor or DTP mode.

Pages is free and  has some fairly good DTP functionality under ‘file’ you can change a document from word processing one to a page layout

(although you need to do that before you’ve created any content)

Keynote is also apple’s  free PowerPoint-a-like

Aye, that’s what we’ve used, just wondered if there was something better.

Depends what you mean by better. I use PowerPoint for all sorts of things it’s not really designed for because I know how to use it and as result it’s usually quick and relatively painless.

I’ll have a look at Pages but I didn’t think it was free any more.

Hell will freeze over before I go anywhere near Keynote. And the kids are quite capable of using Powerpoint (as they demonstrated last night with a presentation about why they need a tortoise).

There are also the Google alternatives (Docs, Slides, Drawings)…

‘Impress’ in the free Libre office suite will probably do it too.

I do have an Office365 account, issue is that, like Access, MS has never released Publisher for Mac.

Just out of curiosity, what doesn’t powerpoint do that you’d like it to?

(Not a snarky question, I’m genuinely curious cos I have yet to push the limits of PP beyond what I need).

Not absolutely sure, advice on the parents WhatsApp is that Pub is better for ‘posters’ but not having it, I can’t have a play to see.

I have used DTP software in the past (a very long time ago in the mid-late ‘90s on the student rag) so I can see how this might be so, but I’d imagine things have moved on rather a lot since then.

does it need to end in a printed hard copy ?

Yes

Their main page seems to be down at the moment but https://sourceforge.net/projects/scribus/ is free DTP.

You can get a trial version of Adobe Indesign. As that’s the benchmark and industry standard for this kind of thing (with good reason) why not try that and see how you get on? It’s very intuitive and easy to work your way around and YouTube is full of tutorials

It won’t let me post the link for some reason, but if you Google it, it should take you through

Affinity do a good DTP package which is very well priced.

Adobe do the education pricing which is very cheap also if you can fulfill whatever their requirements for proof are.

I’ll have a look at Pages but I didn’t think it was free any more.

It’s free to anyone with an Apple ID. Just go to App Store and download.

If you do use PowerPoint make sure you change page size to A4. Most people who send me files leave it at 16:9 – fine for screen, all wrong for print. 😀

Another vote for Affinity Publisher, if you buy the other two (Designer & Photo) to go with it there should currently be change from £130.

Pages will struggle with tables inside columns as I discovered when trying to lay out a T’s & C’s page around 5 years ago, it will also spit the dummy if your page needs very small or non-existent margins.

People still use Publisher? Thought that went obsolete 20 years ago.

MS office works well on Mac.

Adobe will go to any lengths to avoid anyone from using any of their ‘ware for free or cheap. There are cheap or free equivalents for Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign…

A former work colleague who taught me to use CorelDraw, Illustrator, QuarkXpress and Photoshop still pays a stupid amount of money every month to keep up an Adobe subscription because he’s still getting requests from people we did work for back in the 80’s-90’s to do updates on files, and the fonts and everything have to match perfectly, but he does use several apps on his iPad which have very similar functionality, and they’re available for MacOS as well. Certainly worth checking out and installing, for the kids development skills on DTP, vector and bitmap ‘ware are very transferable and well-worth building up.

@mjsmke Version 2 of the recent Affinity suite was released before Christmas just passed. It still needs a polish but it’s getting there. I missed the cheap upgrade window (£40 for all 3 as there was too much month left in November and SWMBO would have been a tad testy if I had spent an extra £40 on something that I use for a hobby with trips abroad and Christmas to fund.

Adobe will go to any lengths to avoid anyone from using any of their ‘ware for free or cheap. There are cheap or free equivalents for Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign…

I’ve always gone on the basis that if you can’t afford to spend £50 a month on ‘tools’ then you’ve not got much of a business.

I’ve looked into the alternatives many times but there’s always that one killer feature you can’t do without.

Affinity is so close, but still not quite there. And the workarounds are more hassle than £50 a month.

Hadn’t realised ‘DTP’ software was still a thing at home.

On Mac, PowerPoint or Keynote do the job fine.

Pages I’ve never used in ‘layout’ mode. But it’s there.

All the MacOS apps are free – GarageBand, pages, numbers, keynote, … just go to the Mac App Store and download them.

a presentation about why they need a tortoise

I heart this.

My two suggestions (Pages free, or InDesign free trial and then single app monthly subscription if you still need it) have already been covered. Both better than Publisher… Pages is more old person friendly, InDesign worth them trying as it could lead to a new interest and possible future career.

Yep, stick with PowerPoint or Keynote (or Google Slides). We use the former. No need to go down the pure DTP route.